Why We Smile
by Lucky Lemonade
Summary: Even after they fight, they're still friends. Then again, Alma is friends with everyone.


Hello everyone, this is Lucky with my second story, another one-shot. I just want to say that I absolutely love Alma- he's so happy, and nice- so I had to write something about him.

Anyway, on with the story!

_I do not own D. Gray-Man or the beautiful Alma Karma._

_

* * *

_

Steam rose steadily in the large chamber, coming from round pools of water in the ground. The mist swirled and twirled about itself, almost masking the silhouette of a young boy, leaning against the chamber wall. His arms were crossed, and his straight, shoulder-length black hair was beginning to become damp from the water in the air. He shivered slightly, and hunched his shoulders even more. His skin-tight black shorts and short white cardigan didn't provide much warmth.

The boy's normally angry face was, at the moment, void of any emotion. This room was the only place where he felt remotely comfortable, and could relax without anyone seeing him. He took deep breaths and closed his eyes, entering an almost meditative state. He could feel the stiffness leaving his body with each breath he took, and even though it wasn't working very quickly, he was calming down.

His concentration was shattered, though, when he noticed that there was another presence close to him. The interrupter was just around the corner of the wall that he was leaning on and trying to keep quiet, but the black-haired boy noticed him anyway.

"Hey, Yuu," said a cheerful voice.

"Che." A scowl returned to the boy's face as another child stuck his head around the corner. The newcomer also had black hair, but his was shorter, and stuck up in different directions. He had extremely long eyelashes, and a strange mark that ran across the bridge of his nose. He was wearing the same thing as the first boy, with the addition of an extremely wide smile.

The short-haired boy swung himself around the corner and stood next to the one called Yuu. Yuu looked straight ahead, as if the other boy would go away if he weren't acknowledged.

No suck luck. "Hey, Yuu… I'm sorry about earlier."

"I'm not."

What the second boy meant by "earlier" was when the two of them had gotten into a horrible fight. It had started with an insult and ended with the two boys in trouble and a lot of injured lab personnel.

"You know, Twi-sensei and Edgar-sensei get mad when we fight," the spiky-haired boy told the other, tilting his head to the side.

"Do I look like I care, Alma?" snapped Yuu.

The one named Alma glared at him. "Look, I came here to apologize, but if you're just going to be like this I'm leaving!" He stalked off around five steps, chin in the air but eyes slightly watery, but he didn't go any further.

Yuu growled under his breath. The idiot didn't leave, even when he wanted to. He just stood there, angry, but still refusing to go away and be alone.

His theory was proven as after only a minute or so Alma turned around and walked back over, plopping himself down on the ground beside Yuu and leaning against the wall. He wasn't even frowning anymore, the long-haired boy noted, annoyed.

"You're freakin' bipolar," he informed the sitting boy.

"I just don't like being angry or sad," Alma told him simply, smiling. His cheeks must get sore a lot, thought Yuu.

"How are you so goddamn cheery all the time?" The question popped out of Yuu's mouth before he could stop it.

The short-haired boy blinked up at him, obviously curious as to what he meant.

Yuu didn't really want to talk to him any more, but he had to if he wanted to get that annoying look of his friend's face. "Even in a place like this, you're always smiling. How?"

Alma blinked once more, then grinned dazzlingly up at him. Yuu scowled and almost shielded his eyes.

"In a place like this, it's most important to smile."

Yuu raised an eyebrow in spite of himself.

"I mean," Alma continued, "if I don't smile, who will?"

The long-haired boy blinked, then frowned. "Nobody should be smiling here. There's nothing to smile about."

"But that's where you're wrong, Yuu," Alma stated, shaking a finger at him. "If nobody smiles and nobody's happy, then what are they doing all this for? Why are they fighting?"

"They're not the ones doing the fighting," growled Yuu. "They're just hiding in here, playing with their stupid lab." He folded his arms tighter across his pale chest.

Alma, still smiling, furrowed his thick eyebrows slightly. "Don't you think it affects them, though, Yuu? It's not like they like hurting us. After all, they're human too."

"What does this have to do with your disturbing optimism?"

"I'm smiling for them, Yuu." Alma's eyes were so wide, and innocent, and genuinely kind. "To remind them why we fight." He stood up, coming eye-to-eye with the other boy. "I'm smiling for them, to give them a reason. Don't you think it pains them, hurting us? If I smile for them, I might be able to lift some of their pain, and help them."

Yuu glared at him. "Why do they need to be helped? They're not the ones who are tortured every day. If anything, we're the ones who need resolve."

Alma seemed to think about this for only a second before responding with a smile even more beautiful, and a single sentence: "Well then, I'm smiling for Yuu."

* * *

Short and (I hope) sweet. Did I mention how much I love Alma?


End file.
